I've mounted the tank up front and just followed instructions, ie. no foam, rubber band holding the tank against the former. I'm going to epoxy a stick behind the tank to prevent it from sliding backwards.

Anyone mount the tank up front without any foam at all, either underneath or around it?

I used the lite ply radio tray supplied with the kit and mounted iton rails behind the tank. It makes for a good tank retainer and is removable with 4 screws. I did not use any foam and have had no fuel foaming issues.

Danny Jackson

Thanks for the info, guys, another question.

I'm using five digital servos and another standard servo up front for the throttle and am planning on using a JR Extra 2700 NMh 6.0V receiver battery.
Anyone using a standard non -lithium type battery on their Venus II? Should the JR provide enough juice for the servos?

I use a 6V 1,400mAh NiMh in both my 50cc Extra and Edge. Was using a 1,000mAh NiCd in my EP Venus II, but going to try a 700mAh NiMh next time I fly it (but I'm not running digital servos in the Venus II).

If you're skimping on battery capacity you should check the Voltage before every flight. Be certain to bring a field charger with you.

Woo Hoo! My Venus II is almost finished! Just have to put foam under the mounts and wing, locktite in the right places, install the battery and receiver, setup the throws and cg and setup the radio. I hope to be breaking in the 1.20AX Monday at the field.

I'm very excited about trying this setup out. I'll post some pictures when it's ready.

Question: Has anyone taped their hinge gaps? I have white monokote and would like to tape the gaps but have never done so. Do you tape just one side and is their a recommended width and any tips on applying it?

Thanks in advance.

When i seal my aileron and gaps. i use either clear ultracote or monokote. I cut it 1" wide and fold it in half. Use a steel ruler and put it in the gap and then iron it in place. I only do the bottom on aileron and elevator and whatever side of the rudder.

Same here. Or I use 3M Clear tape when I can find it 1 inch wide.
Chris...

Ditto to what Dennis said...bottom only, and covering has always been easier for me to use than sticky tape. Be sure to flex the control surface all the way when you apply the gap seal.

Thank you.

I have to now paint and mount the canopy. I plan on using Tamiya black or red spray paint. I realize black will cause the canopy to melt when it's hot outside but I plan on keeping a towel over the canopy when it's sitting in the pits.

Question: Has anyone painted their canopy a dark color and if so, how did you mask off the grey edge first so it didn't remove anything when pulling it off afterwards?

painted mine black on the inside no masking, also no issue's with heat

Used six digital servos, 1-DS 8411, 4-DS 8231, and 1-DS 821 and a 1700 MAH Nicd. No voltage or capacity problems. Good luck.

Danny Jackson

Thanks, guys.

Any pics in this thread of a canopy painted metallic red or metallic blue? They sound like they might be nice looking. Have to buy the paint today so I'm searching through the thread but so far have found nothing.

Went with a Pactra brand metallic red for the canopy. Came out pretty nice.

Yes, tape your aileron gaps on one side. I also use clear Monokote. If you use a big, 2000mah, battery, and mount it just above the wing bolt plate you probably won't need any lead in the tail.

Thanks. I mounted the battery right behind the wing bolt plate and will be checking the cg next. Here's some pics of how it's going - still have to put the tape on but pretty much all assembly is done. ( I realize a servo wire and connector are sticking out between the wing and fuse)

Just weighed the completed plane and it comes out to 9.0 lbs on the button.

I also checked the front to rear cg and it came out that I needed three 1/4 oz weights in the back to balance it. That makes it a camels hair tail heavy; just sways a little to the rear with the three weights.

9 lbs. seemed heavy so I re-checked as I have a spring scale which wasn't perfectly zeroed, and was holding the plane upright on the spinner and felt I might have been pushing down a little. The more accurate weight is 8lbs 14 oz. Still, a little heavy.

I could have shaved some weight by using carbon landing gear, forgetting the wheel pants, going with a smaller servo for the throttle and a lighter lithium ion battery pack instead of the monster NMh I used. But I'll see how it feels first.

Question: I have to hook up the two elevator servos to a seven channel Spektrum AR7600 receiver with a X9303 JR radio. Which channels do I use, and how do I setup the radio for the elevators? Thanks in advance.

Use elevator and aux 2. On My Spectrum DX7 I use either mix #6 or #7. These are the only 2 that adjust trim with the master channel. I think the 9303 procedure is different, but elev. and aux2 are the channels. I use aileron and aux1 for the flaperons.

Thanks, I'll use the channels you said. I don't use flaperons though - do they help with landings? Do they take away any of the control left to right when landing?

On my DX-7 you need to turn flaperons on and set the flap travel to zero I believe, in order to use the 2 channels for the ailerons. You can also use these for flaps or spoilerons, (flaps both up), if you want. I don't think we need that on the Venus.

Mixed feelings. Thrilled and depressed.

It's surprising sometimes how things don't go exactly as planned. I was hoping to maybe get the new Venus II out to the field and at least break in the engine today.

I underestimated the amount of work that still needed to be done. Most are little things, but still, they add up and put me behind. I guess I'm just too hooked on this hobby. I've been obsessing on getting this plane done, broken in and maidened.

Now I'm hoping to get it broken in at least tomorrow, weather permitting.

Loose ends. That's what put me behind. Today I did lots of little things. Charged my new receiver battery along with the X9303. Shortened the spinner bolt as it was a touch too long. Replaced that stupid flexible wire OS supplied for the 120AX needle valve, with a straight wire.
Glued and screwed in place the 3 weights on the bottom of the tail. Mounted the battery and 2nd receiver. Put labels on the switch and charge jack. Rubber banded the tank in place. Bent the throttle rod so it moves without any resistance. Balanced the prop. Picked up a muffler extension and some touch up paint, along with clear Monokote to tape the hinges, and mounted the extension and touched up a couple small scratches in the cowl. Purchased 10% nitro/synthetic fuel. Mounted small strips of foam on the wing saddle.Oiled the wheels.

Still to do? Connect all the servos and battery leads and organize the wiring. Balance the plane side to side. Setup the radio and adjust the throws.

The plan? To have a top notch pattern flier who is meeting me at the field tomorrow help with the final steps and break in the engine and maybe maiden and trim the new bird. Or maybe not. Maybe Wednesday.

No luck with the weather today. So I took the opportunity to do a few things I was going to do at the field.

I balanced the plane side to side. It took two stick on weights on the right side to balance, which I screwed in place. I also hooked up the servo leads to the receiver and adjusted all the linkages so the surfaces are at neutral with the servos and radio controls centered.

I attempted to seal the hinge gaps but it wasn't going smoothly so I stopped. I'll break in the engine and fly it tomorrow without hinge tape. If I decide to seal the gaps I'll try the blemderm tape instead.

Have to fiddle with the wing bolts to get them to find the mount holes. The holes are a little forward of the bolts so I have to move the bolts with a wire underneath to get them started. Anyone else have this problem and are there any suggestions to make this easier?

I have answers to both of your problems. Do the aileron gaps before you run the engine as the oil will inevitably get in that gap and you will never be able to get that Monokote to stick. For the wing bolts, point the threaded end on a grinder, kinda like a pencil. Now the point will find the hole and start. Get the Point?

I did grind the tips of the bolts already with a dremel drum sander and that still isn't enough. They're not to a clean point though. I'll try the grinder and get more of a pencil point and try that.

I think I'll just skip the gaps for now. I can clean the gap with windex and scott towels later if I decide to add it later, can't I?

Just finished grinding the wing bolts to a pencil point and it helped, but I still have to help them find the holes with a rod slipped under the wing. I'll just live with it at the field like that I guess.

Also adjusted the throws for low and high rates. Ailerons and elevators are right on now but can't get enough throw for the rudder,even with the travel adjustment on the radio maxed out. The rudder seems to be going as far as it'll go in the gap between the fin and rudder and it's reaching it's limit. The manual calls for 3" throw for high rates??